The GOOD – Better game overall than the previous against OCSC the previous weekend. More shots (15) on goal, though only 1 was on target. Gashi has found his left foot again, and played a full 90, this is a great thing. Powers played well at the D-Mid position next to Azira. Rapids supporters standing in the 24th minute in support of Rapids homegrown player Kortne Ford whose mother is fighting breast cancer.

The BAD – Officiating, but certainly not the reason the Rapids lost the game. The back line played better overall until the counter attack late in the second half, leading to the Brek Shea goal. 5 losses in a row, the spiral continues.

The UGLY – Mekeil Williams’ red card. Who will play left back on Saturday? Personally I would like to see Dennis Castillo get the call up from Charlotte. Or do we see Mike da Fonte get the start this week?

The Final Third – Another late game collapse from the Rapids, a scenario we’ve seen way too much of. The Rapids have 7 of their next 10 games at home and could really turn things around on the season. A win this weekend will help that.

The Rapids will try again to get in the win column this Saturday as the San Jose Quakes roll into town. Sjoberg has been seen on the practice field this week.

A big void (pun intended) on the Rapids back line, but nothing that Bobby Burling shouldn’t be able to fill, literally. I expect we’ll see the big guy starting this weekend against MLS newbies, Minnesota United FC.

The signing of Da Fonte comes as a surprise but it sounds like a good one, that benefits not only the Rapids but Sacramento Republic FC as well. I think this move is to just simply add more experience to the back line. Da Fonte having played in USL with Sacramento and NY Red Bulls II and previously 3 seasons in the Portuguese third division. The soon to be 26 year old signs a 2 year deal with the Rapids.

The Colorado Rapids held an open training session for season ticket members today, giving supporters an up-close first look at the Rapids newest addition in US International icon and keeper Tim Howard.

#KeepFighting

The Secretary of Defense

Rapids Midfielder Michael Azira

Rapids newest acquisition, keeper Tim Howard

Zac MacMath looking to stop a shot

Axel Sjoberg, Shkelzen Gashi

Kevin Doyle

Howard with the stop.

The boys

Great to see defender Joseph Greenspan back with the team

Post training interview with Richard Fleming and Pablo Mastroeni

The squad was broken up into two groups, one group being the players who most recently played this past Wednesday in the US Open Cup match against FC Dallas and the remainder of the team, most of whom will probably be in the starting 11 on Monday against Portland on July 4th.

Though he did not take part in training, it was great to see Dillion Serna at training and not on crutches. Serna suffered an injury Wednesday night against FC Dallas and is due to have season ending knew surgery soon. Also great to see Sean St. Ledger and Bobby Burling, who have both been out of action due to injury. Shkelzen Gashi’s back from Albanian National team duties in the Euro 2016 tournament. The only noticeable absentee was Jermaine Jones.

The GOOD – The Rapids are now 6-0 at home this season and on a current 6 game unbeaten streak.

Dom Dwyer, M.I.A. The battle between he and Sjoberg all night was a joy to watch.

Serna was the much needed spark off the bench.

The BAD – Sporting KC pressed high, were physical and were all over the Rapids Doyle, Jones, Badji and Solignac. Not leaving any space to get off any real targeted shots or any chance to be creative. This is where Gashi and Pappa were both greatly missed.

The UGLY – The game itself was ugly at times, but the beautiful game can’t always be beautiful every time out. If you believe that every game has to be beautiful, then clearly you’re not a fan of the sport as a whole. Take the good with the bad and learn to appreciate both. Every league on the planet has them.

Rapids currently are on top of the Western Conference with 23 pts and also lead the race for the Supporters Shield. Next up….Rapids @ Columbus Crew, Saturday May 14th

The GOOD – The first half, both the start and the final minutes. Shots (14 to 11) and shots on target (6 to 4) were in favor of the Rapids.

The BAD – a depleted bench maybe forced Pablo’s decisions on substitutions, only making one, Badji on for Powers(78th), especially with an upcoming match mid week against Sporting KC.

Rapids lacked possession and did very little to dictate the pace of the game.

The first leg of the Rocky Mountain Cup goes to RSL.

The UGLY – MacMath’s blunder in net or should I say out of the net, leading to the RSL gifted goal by Plata. Sjoberg also gets some of the blame for the RSL goal.

SUMMARY

The Rapids are 0-2-1 on the road, and as usual their road record is going to determine whether this team makes the playoffs this season. A road game at division leading Sporting KC coming up on Wednesday, this becomes a must win game for the Rapids.

Rapids through five games are 2-2-1 with 7 points, 6th place in the Western Division. Through the first 5 games of 2015, the Rapids were 1-1-3 with 6 points.

I finally got the chance to watch the season opener against the Union and here are my thoughts on the game.

The GOOD – Defensively, the Rapids were there, even when they were playing down a man in the second half after the Burling dismissal. They were physical, they attacked the ball, dominated the aerial battles, winning 62% of those. Irwin was great in net. Sjoberg was more than solid in his first start of his rookie MLS campaign.

The BAD – Offensively only two shots, zero on goal. Possession 38%, too many turnovers and too many balls played over the top. Little creativity from the midfield. Midfield play further declined after Sanchez substitution.

The UGLY – The second yellow and red card send off of Bobby Burling in the 67th minute. The winless streak continues.

Synopsis – I know we’re only one game in, but this is a much better Rapids team defensively from what we saw in the second half of the season last year. Midfield needs to control possession better and create opportunities moving the ball forward. Still a well earned point for the Rapids on the road to start the season. If the playoffs started today, we would be in, LOL!

The Rapids who some were thought to go with adding some depth to their midfield, in the draft today instead went with strengthening their back line somewhat with two defenders in the first two rounds. Colorado held the 19th pick to start the day and ended up trading up with Columbus to gain the 14th pick, That pick was Swedish born Axel Sjoberg, 6’7″ out of Marquette University.

The Rapids also held the 26th pick overall and in the second round selected Joseph Greenspan out of the U.S. Naval Academy. How soon we get to see Greenspan take the pitch will be decided by the Naval Academy, Greenspan has his commitment to the military that could be done while he pursues a professional soccer career, think David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs or even later.

Welcome to both Axel Sjoberg and Joseph Greenspan!

Rapids also made another surprise move today by trading allocation money and rank to the Los Angeles Galaxy for midfielder Marcelo Sarvas. Sarvas a fan favorite in LA comes over to the Rapids as a key contributor to the Galaxy success winning MLS Cup titles with the Galaxy in 2012 and 2014. Sarvas started 80 of the 88 appearances he made for the Galaxy, even 3 goals and 11 assists in 2014. This makes up for the loss of Jose Mari this season as he wanted to return to Spain to continue his career.

Welcome Marcelo Sarvas!

Not sure how I missed this one but Chris Bianchi reported earlier in the week that the Rapids have signed a midfielder out of Argentina by the name of Lucas Pittinari. Pittinari, 23, played 5 years in the top flight in Argentine Primera Division with Club Atletico Belgrano and comes over on a one year loan with the option to purchase. Full story here. To translate the page if using Google Chrome, right click and highlight “Translate to English”.

Welcome Lucas Pittinari!

Overall the Rapids I would say had a very productive draft day, acquiring two quality defenders and later trading for an experienced midfielder in Sarvas. My biggest concern is whether or not Pablo and his staff can develop the new talent (Sjoberg and Greenspan) and put together a solid gameplan week after week for the team to have much more success in 2015. Only time will tell as training camps start next week.

Rounds 3 and 4 of the MLS Super Draft take place next Tuesday via phone conference.